$1 million dollar car isn't exactly 100 times better than a $10,000 car.

Taken that a new $10,000 or even a $20,000 car is probably a kia, or something very small, slow, and economical. I'm gonna say a Bugatti Veyron is 100 times better.

I personally do think a 100k speaker is probably better than a 10k speaker. While maybe only marginally better there is a difference somewhere. If nothing else you have a speaker that not everyone owns. Some people don't want to have what everyone else has. And to some people that alone is worth it. I'm personally like that on alot of things.

I don't know. If I had the means, I really could not see myself getting anything more expensive than the top of the line Seaton or Salk stuff for HT and Music respectively. I doubt that 100k speakers will have much on these setups. Either of these would not run you much north of 20K at most. You could get both for 40K(probably less) and have the best of both worlds and still have 60k to go on some around the world trips.

Many wealthy people are very intelligent, but not in every area. They rely on others for certain things (AUDIO/VIDEO). These people may or may not just get more expensive items just because they are more expensive.

I don't know whether I would waste $100,000 on speakers or not and I do believe it would be a waste. I suspect I would have someone make really nice speaker cabinets for me and buy the best drivers I could get (some of which I already have). Why give up the gratification of speaker building just because I have the money to buy high end ready built ones? I might replace my Emotiva amps with better looking ones. I find the Emo amps to be garish and looks do matter. There are better things to spend most of the money on such as giving to a local psychiatric crisis house. They need the money far more than I do.

I feel similar to this, except I would put a nice wood shop next to my house. Being that rich would leave way to much free time, and one needs hobbies when they have free time.

So if you guys won the jackpot and got 20 million, would you still not buy any speakers in the ultra high end realm? I can't imagine a multimillionaire owning Emotiva amps, Klipsch speakers and a SVS sub. I remember reading a post from someone on the Emotiva forum who insisted that if he were a millionair, he would still never buy any other amps besides Emos. Riiiiiiiighhht.

I know I would try new speakers that I would never have dreamed of owning. I mean why not right? This hobby is fun and the choices out there are plentiful. Still, I do think it's ridiculous paying 100K for speakers, but man it would be fun to try em out. Especially when you can brag about it!

One of the reasons many wealthy people have money, is because they invest it instead of blowing it on $100,000 speakers. I'm happy with my $2,500 speakers, even though I have the means to buy the ultra high end variety. If you gave the average person a million dollars, most would be broke in a few years or less. Look at lottery winners. My point is that I think you should always get some reasonable value for your money, regardless of budget.

If I had that kind of cash, I'd probably build a nice HT with Genelec speakers and Theta CBIII processor into a high-end projector.
It's the law of diminishing returns at play. Regarding autos, I think comparing a 100k car to a 1M car is more analagous to the speaker question than comparing 10k to 100k. A Veyron is not 10x better than a 911, maybe 2-3x, but not 10. A 100k car is probably 10x better than a 10k car.

Wrong. There have been PLENTY of great speakers produced and sold within $1000 that I've had the pleasure of hearing over the years. This of course depends heavily on the room the speakers are being put in (size, acoustics, reflections & distance to listening position) and the mounting/space/listening position limitations. There are so many factors that could limit or enhance the sound quality of a speaker design that making a blanket statement like you did falls far short of the reality.

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Maybe 1,000 plus more for a sub will get you a pretty good 2 channel setup, but to have a great pair of full range speakers you'll need to spend at least 2,500 or so if you want true full range sound.

Again, this is hogwash. Good, heck even 'great' full range stereo sound can be had for far less than $2,500. Price is not an indicator of a listener's enjoyment of a product. I've heard cheap speakers with what seemed like major cost-cutting designs sound more pleasing than their expensive competitors.

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I personally believe the upgrades up to 8,000-15,000 are still pretty noticeable and as you get higher and higher they become less and less noticeable.

IMO, noticable ONLY in terms of pure SPL output and visceral 'impact' (for those systems that are truly giving the buyer their money's worth at this price range). You better damn well expect not just a quality sound, but an 'experience' from the speakers.

Here's an example. You should expect a similar difference like you get when going from Polk's $1,000 tower speakers to the 13 year old $10,000 Polk SRT super towers when connected to 350 watt amps. You clearly are getting an upgrade and an experience you can't duplicate with their cheaper towers.

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Once you get over 15,000 for a pair of speakers you really get into a lot of cosmetic differences and other random stuff that I personally don't deem as that important.

You should be getting well into the 'cosmetics' when going past $5,000. To expect anything less than an attractive system means you could've gone cheaper and got just as good a quality/SPL setup.

If paying over $5,000 for a pair of speakers, you better expect quality/pleasing sound, high output SPL & attractive looks. To get anything less is to be 'taken' on the deal.

I do have to say tho, I test drove a $50k pair of speakers, and the difference from my $800 pair was unreal. Pulling up a few select dubstep tracks, I couldn't believe how surreal and sharp each note transient became. It was like I had a dj with a computer RIGHT IN MY FACE!

I do have to say tho, I test drove a $50k pair of speakers, and the difference from my $800 pair was unreal. Pulling up a few select dubstep tracks, I couldn't believe how surreal and sharp each note transient became. It was like I had a dj with a computer RIGHT IN MY FACE!

You probably could get a similar effect from something like a QSC KW153

+1. Once you get above roughly $5000 at retail the only substantial difference with a higher price is the price. Those with more funds than knowledge, to put it in a polite fashion, think that a higher price equals better performance. It isn't the least bit true, but so long as there are willing buyers there will be willing sellers, be it for a $50,000 speaker or a $100 cable. Or a twenty dollar bag of rocks.

Do you feel this only applies for "consumer" speakers? What about Dunlavy, PMC, Quested, Barefoot, etc.? Most studio monitors are easily over the $5K mark.

Do you feel this only applies for "consumer" speakers? What about Dunlavy, PMC, Quested, Barefoot, etc.? Most studio monitors are easily over the $5K mark.

There is precious little difference between studio monitors and consumer speakers, so this does apply. Studio owners don't blink at spending over $5k on speakers, they do after all charge handsomely for their services, and besides, it's tax deductible.

I have a 5.1 system in my living room that I have about $1100 invested in, not counting the display. I would invite any of you over for dinner and a movie without any embarrassment at all. The system sounds great. Not fatiqueing in the least. Great balance, nice punchy bass and very smooth and clear highs. Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder.

There is precious little difference between studio monitors and consumer speakers, so this does apply. Studio owners don't blink at spending over $5k on speakers, they do after all charge handsomely for their services, and besides, it's tax deductible.

I do disagree with this, as someone who has been in multiple studios. But we all have our opinions and viewpoints I feel it always ultimately come down to what your looking for and your $$$

There is precious little difference between studio monitors and consumer speakers, so this does apply. Studio owners don't blink at spending over $5k on speakers, they do after all charge handsomely for their services, and besides, it's tax deductible.

It all depends on the speakers I guess. I have heard 100K per pair speakers powered by 8kw monos each. The front stage was $210K for LCR and amps. It did sound awesome, I can't deny it. However, my front stage for my LCR and amp is $2000 and for HT I win! For music, I would need to listen again. It helps that my subs kick the crap out of theirs.

PS: One of the reasons why studios buy very expensive speakers is so that they can advertise the fact that they have very expensive speakers, so they're an investment in drumming up business. OTOH for about 25 years the speaker found in more studios than any other was the Yamaha NS-10. One reason given for their popularity, only half-jokingly, was that if you could get a mix to sound good through NS-10s it would sound good through anything.

PS: One of the reasons why studios buy very expensive speakers is so that they can advertise the fact that they have very expensive speakers, so they're an investment in drumming up business. OTOH for about 25 years the speaker found in more studios than any other was the Yamaha NS-10. One reason given for their popularity, only half-jokingly, was that if you could get a mix to sound good through NS-10s it would sound good through anything.

Your absolutely correct with the NS-10's, they sound like a boom box. Terrible response curves. But any engineer will tell you they sound terrible. I use them on mixes, but just as a reference. I much prefer Genelec, Dynaudio, or my equators.

Your absolutely correct with the NS-10's, they sound like a boom box. Terrible response curves. But any engineer will tell you they sound terrible. I use them on mixes, but just as a reference. I much prefer Genelec, Dynaudio, or my equators.

Of course, but when the average uninformed consumer is probably listening to a Bose system by comparison NS-10s are pretty darn good.